Polly reached for her gin and orange and took a sip. Nothing was going right lately. Nothing had gone right since Marlene had left to drive ambulances in Italy. She missed her older sister more than she ever thought she would.
She missed Sam even more. Sam Cutter, the man she thought she was going to marry, had gone back to America. Without her. She still couldn’t believe it. All because he thought she was too young for him. Almost sixteen years old, she’d been then, and he thought she was too young. Well, that was the last time she’d ever look at another Yank.
With a flick of her wrist, she drained her glass. She was fed up. Even Sadie, her best mate, had deserted her tonight. She might as well go home.
She slapped the glass down on the table, but before she could push her chair back a young woman plopped down on the chair opposite her and demanded, “You’re Polly, aren’t you? Lady Elizabeth’s assistant?”
It took Polly a moment to recognize the bridesmaid Sadie had brought down to the pub with her. Tess Winterhalter looked quite different wearing a skirt and blouse instead of the beautiful blue frock she’d worn at the wedding. Her face looked different, too. Her lipstick had worn off and her eyes looked puffy, as if she’d been crying.
“Yeah, I’m Polly Barnett.”
“I’m Tess. My family came down from Cambridge for the wedding.”
Polly eyed the newcomer warily. She’d been shocked when Sadie had told her she’d befriended Priscilla’s niece. Everyone knew that Priscilla’s sister had married above her. People with money who spoke all proper like that usually didn’t mix with the poorer class. Especially a housemaid like Sadie. “Yeah, I know,” she said. “Sadie told me all about you.”
“Sadie makes me laugh,” Tess said, though she didn’t look like she wanted to laugh right then.
Polly gazed with envy at the bridesmaid’s black curls. Her own hair was black, too, but it hung as straight as a blackout curtain. She’d give anything to have curls like that. No wonder the Yanks were looking at her. She looked like a flipping film star.
Tess seemed not to notice the flirty looks coming her way. Something had upset her, that much Polly could tell. The girl sat twisting her glass around in her hands as if it were someone’s neck she were wringing. “Sadie’s playing darts over there,” she said, her voice low enough that Polly had to strain to hear her above the racket the dart players were making.
“She’s always playing darts.” Polly shot a look at the dartboard as a cheer went up from that corner. “She comes down here a lot. She likes playing ’cos she nearly always wins. She says it makes her feel good to beat the boys at something.”
“There’s not much else to do for excitement in this place, is there.”
Polly shrugged. “Depends who you’re with, I suppose.”
“I know. There’s someone I…” Tess’s face crumpled, and she covered her mouth with her hand as if to smother a sob.
Polly felt a stirring of sympathy. She knew what it felt like to miss someone. “I’m sorry,” she murmured awkwardly.
After a moment or two, the other girl seemed to get herself under control. “Well, my father will be happy. He hated Brian. He kept telling me he was too old for me and that he was only after me for the money.” She looked up, her face clouded with misery. “Brian was only thirty-three. Daddy made him sound positively ancient.”
Polly’s attention sparked, in spite of herself. After all, this was a subject dear to her heart. “So how old are you then?”
“Twenty.” Tess hunted in her pocket and found a handkerchief. She blew her nose with it, then crumpled it in a ball in her hands. “It’s only thirteen years’ difference.”
Thirteen years! There’d been only seven years difference between her and Sam. Deciding she had something in common with this hoity-toity miss, after all, Polly found herself telling her all about her and Sam. “Everything was going fine,” she finished, “until he had an accident in the Jeep and messed up his face. I know it was because he couldn’t stand me looking at his scars.”
Tess shuddered. “How awful. Where is he now?”
“Gone back to America, hasn’t he.” Just thinking about him made her own eyes prickle with tears. “I’ll never see him again.”
Tess leaned forward. “You’re still young. You’ll find someone else.”
“I don’t think so. I tried it once, but I picked the wrong bloke. He turned out to be a criminal.”
Tess’s eyes widened in shock. “How absolutely rotten for you!”
“It was,” Polly agreed gloomily. “I don’t seem to have any luck with men. Really I don’t.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll meet someone nice soon.” Tess shook her head. “I thought Brian was going to be the man of my dreams, but I was wrong.” Her face turned suddenly ugly, startling Polly. “I hate to say it, but Daddy was right about him after all.”
“So what happened?” Polly asked, now glued to her chair.
“Well, we’d been seeing each other on and off for quite a while. Behind Daddy’s back, of course. I told Brian I was going to be in Sitting Marsh for the wedding, so I wouldn’t be able to see him this weekend. But then I missed him so much, and I was pretty bored that first night at the manor, so when Sadie offered to bring me down here I thought it would be fun.”
Polly nodded. “Sadie told me you’d come down here with her on Thursday night.”
Tess sighed and passed a hand across her forehead. “Yes, well, the first thing we saw when we walked in was Brian sitting at the bar. I never dreamed he would follow me down here. He said he was staying at the pub, and that he planned to go to the wedding reception so we could be there together.”
Impressed by this bold move, Polly said breathlessly, “You must have been so thrilled!”
Tess shrugged. “Not really. To tell you the truth, I wished he hadn’t come. I knew Daddy would be livid, and I didn’t want to spoil the wedding for Aunt Prissy. I told Brian he couldn’t come to the reception. He said he hadn’t come all that way to sit around the pub by himself all weekend. We had a nasty row and he stalked off. I thought he’d gone home, but then he turned up at the reception this afternoon.”
Polly sucked in her breath. “So what did your dad say when he found out?”
“Well, he was livid, of course. Just as I thought. He called Brian a swindler, said he was using me and that he was only after the money. He told Brian if he came near me again he’d have him arrested for harassment.”
“So did he leave?”
“No, he wanted to dance with me.” Tess’s lower lip trembled. “I was really angry with Daddy. I loved Brian and I told Daddy if he didn’t let me see him I’d run away with him. I knew Daddy wouldn’t make a scene at the wedding, so I danced with Brian anyway.”
Polly frowned. “I don’t remember seeing you with anyone. Which one was he?”
“The tall fellow, in the dark gray suit and blue tie.”
“Oh, him.” Polly nodded. “Nice-looking bloke.”
“Yes, I suppose he is.” Tess drummed on the table with her fingers. “It’s just a shame he turned out to be such a rotter.”
“So what’d he do then?” Polly demanded. But before Tess could answer, another voice broke into the conversation.
“Come on, Pol, let’s go and join the sing-along at the piano.” Sadie’s grin took in both of them. “You, too, Tess. We need some girls over there to drown out the Yanks.”
Polly looked at Tess, who shook her head. “I’m tired. I think I’ll go back to the Manor House. Where can I call for a taxi?”
Sadie burst out laughing. “You’re joking. There’s no taxi in Sitting Marsh.”
Tess stared up at her in dismay. “Then how am I going to get home?”
“Well, I could give you a ride on me bicycle,” Sadie said doubtfully, then shook her head. “Nah. We’d never get up the hill. Wait here.” She bolted back to the crowd at the dartboard, where she grabbed the arm of an American serviceman.